The Bing Gaokao mini app on Edge mobile browser is tailored for Gaokao candidates, integrating information from major platforms to provide fast, convenient, and accurate Gaokao updates.

Bing Gaokao mini app MVP

Collaboration

PM (2), Dev (3+)

Duration

March - Arp 2024

My responsibility

Design owner, User research, UX/UI design

Release

iOS & Android


In 2024, the number of Gaokao candidates reached 13.5 million, marking ten consecutive years of growth. Through competitor analysis, we learned that Gaokao, as a national topic, will significantly boost the app's daily active users.

When users come to Bing and search Gaokao related terms, they can see a less-polished experience compared to Baidu Gaokao. It leads to the rapid user attrition from the search trends chart if we compare the Baidu spike period vs. Bing.

Problem statement

Design challenge

Build E2E Gaokao experience on Edge Mobile to close the competitive gaps with Quark mobile browser.

User research

Conducted in-depth interviews to thoroughly understand user needs during the Gaokao period. With the upcoming exam season, recent survey results show that Gaokao candidates generally find online Gaokao-related information to be mixed in quality and hard to trust.

Gain insight into user needs

Researching competitors and summarizing best practices

Competitive research

Baidu Gaokao, Quark Gaokao is the leader in the industry category, through the yes/no analysis of competitors homepage function template.

Currently, mini-app trends are moving towards multi-scenario, one-stop services with vibrant visuals, rich colors, and distinct templates. To enhance usability, our visual design should remain clean and lightweight.

With our tight project timeline, achieving differentiation quickly requires delivering unique information that captures user attention.

Synthesis

Break down business goals and clarity design goal

According to the MVP scope and user research I clarify my design goals in this stages.

User needs

A easy way to get Gaokao related information without too much search.

The information on the platform must be reliable and trustworthy.

Business goals

Increase DAU

Align with competitors.

Design goals

Build E2E mini app experience, ensuring it is streamlined, intuitive to meet user needs.

Enhance brand awareness and credibility, driving user growth.

Based on our previous user research, I categorized users into different types and structured the main content on the mini app homepage.

What contend can we provide?

Functionality define

Base on user needs, the homepage functionality layout was determined. The homepage mainly includes features such as a banner, quick-access area, live-streaming for entrance exams, and entrance exam consultation modules to attract users' attention and interest.

Build a seamless end-to-end user flow by leveraging the existing mini app framework.

End to end user flow

Prioritise sketching wireframes for main pages to help the team and PM better understand the user experience

Wireframe

Design Deliver

Exploring the look and feel

In this phase, I focused on UI, designing elements like the logo, icon, layout, and more.

Brand Logo

Font

Layout

A/B test

What layout works?

After comparing both options, Option A was selected as it provides a more comprehensive view of available resources on the homepage. The two rows of icons and additional information sections make it easier for users to explore and access various features efficiently, aligning better with the goal of offering a platform for exam preparation resources.

Deliver

Entry point

Starting with a search

Dynamic notification

Deliver

Mini app homepage

Outcome

Compared to the same period before the launch, the DAU of the app has significantly increased (iOS by 5%, Android by 7%).

Enhanced DAU

5%

iOS

80%

Click rate on mini app

Before

After

60%

Core function click rate

7%

Android